This is Lanchi and Tuan's annual family letter.

Our family  photos, as well as  an archive of our  family letters, can
always be seen at http://www.terragalleria.com/family

2010 was for us a year of transition, marked by challenges.

Our foray  into the gallery world  lasted only one year  - the initial
lease term. Our resources were  simply not sufficient to deal with the
drain  of  operating the  gallery.  There was  not  only  the cost  of
operation (about $4000/month) against  scarce sales, but also the time
it took  away from our main  photography business. Starting  a new art
gallery (that, by definition, deals in non-essential items) during the
worst post-war recession was in  itself quite a challenge, but for us,
this  was  compounded by  three  difficulties.  First,  there was  the
distance  of almost  400 miles  from San  Jose to  Santa  Monica which
complicated logistics,  making it necessary  to hire a person  to take
care of the  gallery and preventing us from  interacting directly with
the gallery  patrons. Second, our family situation:  with two toddlers
and a dementia-stricken elder that we needed to drag along with us and
care  for  whenever   we  drove  down  for  a   new  installation  and
opening. Third, our  main business isn't yet into  a stable phase, due
to  the  rapidly evolving  industry  landscape,  and our  insufficient
manpower.

Lanchi, after running the gallery with much appreciation from artists,
quickly  found another activity  to keep  her as  busy as  before. She
transitioned from  one interest  in the vegetal  world -  growing rare
orchid species and photographing them  - to a new one: collecting rare
woods and using  them for wood turning. Researching  materials for the
gallery framing  spurned her interest in wood  specimens, which turned
out to  be no less interesting  than orchids, in  their diversity. She
initially envisioned  making just chopticks, but  gradually learned to
make  more and  more  elaborate  designs, such  as  vases, boxes,  and
various  household  items.  In  the  process,  she  applied  the  same
fanatical dedication and methods as  she used before with the orchids,
acquiring and  remembering the names and particulars  of many hundreds
of wood species.  Most of the orchid collection was  sold on eBay, and
the greenhouse reconverted into  a workshop. After the gallery closed,
she also  continued to  do occasional framing  jobs, not only  to help
prepare Tuan's exhibitions, but also  for Tuan's clients who wanted to
order framed prints.

Not  progressing much  on the  Internet anymore,  in part  due  to the
difficulty of  working effectively at home  or undertaking photography
projects, Tuan continued the process, started last year with his first
gallery  exhibition, of  try to  gain a  foothold for  his photography
outside of Google search.  In the summer, after a long resistance to a
trend that  he perceived as  a time sink,  he began to  participate in
"social  media", starting  a  blog (http://www.terragalleria.com/blog)
and  opening  accounts  on  Facebook (Quang-Tuan  Luong)  and  Twitter
(terragalleira)  that  we  naturally  encourage  you  to  follow.  The
photography revenue stayed at a level comparable to the previous year,
with the lack  of growth due to a decline of  interest in the computer
wallpaper  subscriptions. But  if  you are  still  interested, we  are
pleased to offer you, like  the previous year, free downloads with the
username and password "friends2010".

In the course  of researching locations for their  new PBS documentary
"The National Parks: America's Best  Idea" Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan
saw the images on the terragalleria.com website, and used them to help
plan   their  production,   to   fill  missing   sequences  in   their
cinematography, and in the companion  book.  Intrigued by the story of
Tuan's life  and project, they featured  him as one of  the few living
characters in  the film.  After its  airing, at the  end of September,
Tuan was  surprised that at each  of the six  subsequent gatherings he
went to, someone in the  attendance identified him. If you missed that
great series, it is currently rebroadcast by PBS. The episode to check
is  the forth,  which will  air this  week, Wednesday  17  (details at
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks).

Tuan was  invited to  a number of  events related to  the documentary,
where  he   exhibited  images  of  the  National   Parks.  He  enjoyed
socializing with Park superintendents--for a change--since he was more
accustomed to getting tickets and  warnings from Park rangers. In May,
he drove to Telluride - a  mountain town in Colorado whose setting and
ambiance left  a great  impression on  him - for  the premiere  of the
series during the Mountainfilm festival.  He then took a week and half
to revisit briefly  four National Parks, as well  as explore two world
heritage sites (Taos Pueblo and Chaco Canyon) and a number of towns in
New  Mexico whose  distinct character,  a  mix of  native and  Spanish
heritage, enchanted him.  This was the first road trip he had done for
a long period.  In September, he flew to New York  city for the series
official launch. After a fun time  with his cousin Uyen at the events,
he then made  the long drive to Maine, in order  to photograph an area
with potential  to be the next  National Park, the  Maine North Woods,
and maybe contribute a bit to  its preservation. The last event of the
year took  place in Yosemite.  Although he had  engaged in a  range of
activities in the park, this was the first time he came wearing formal
attire. Lanchi  was there  too, wading the  slushy snow in  an elegant
dress. The occasion  was an invitation by Dayton  Duncan to attend the
Bracebridge Dinner, a wonderful five-hour long Christmas dinner at the
Ahwanhee  Hotel, enlivened  by beautiful  music  and a  large cast  of
performers  in   renaissance  costumes.  Thanks   to  Lanchi's  sister
babysitting, the children  were there too, getting an  early start for
this winter's snowman craft.

Vi-Van moved  in the fall  to Kindergarten. Easily distracted,  she is
struggling with learning her alphabet and numbers. Trying to teach her
tries ones patience,  although she is otherwise a  delightful girl. On
the other  hand, Minh-Dan, who  now attends the  Montessori pre-school
full time, learns fast, but hasn't grown out of his terrible temper at
home, continuing  to pester his sister and  throwing frequent tantrums
that  get Lanchi  on edge.   Although still  in good  physical health,
Tuan's mother  mental condition declines steadily through  the year to
the point  where caring for her  becomes burdensome, a  task much more
difficult  than  caring for  infants.  Because  of  that, besides  the
well-established tradition  of a few  family summer camping  trips, we
took only one road trip to  Oregon.  We still managed to camp at Smith
Rock State  Park, and then even  getting the whole family  down to the
Crooked River (with a wheelchair  over the rocky and steep trail), but
overall, the trip  was not an experience we were  eager to renew. More
positive  family  events included  the  wedding  of Lanchi's  youngest
sister (that Tuan photographed,  usually) which brought in many family
members that we have not seen for a long time, and the move of another
of Lanchi's sister  to within three houses from  ours, which now gives
the kids the choice of two houses within strolling distance to play.

We wish you and all your loved ones a year 2010 (of the tiger) full of
happiness, health, prosperity, and success, and hope to hear some news
from you.

Tuan, Lanchi, Ngoc-Thu, Vi-Van, and Minh-Dan 
(+1) 408-223-8419 3373 Meadowlands Lane, San Jose CA 95135